cleolinda | Friday evening, which is sucking (Reply)

Generally I put links or ramblings into Semagic as I find/think of them, and when I have enough, I hit post. The problem with this is that the entry you start may not be the entry you feel like posting when you finish. So I've got a blithe musing on Coldplay, of all things, right after this that I wrote last night, but today I found out that my frail, 84-year-old grandmother has fallen down and hurt herself (again), and while she hasn't broken anything, she can't put any weight down at all so my mom and my aunt are having to take her to the hospital, and the spectre of assisted living rears its head once more. And she had just gotten over shingles, y'all.

So... what I wrote last night:

I have a few of the songs off the new Coldplay album--I think it's coming out June 13? Fortunately there seem to be a few songs floating around already, and so far I like what I've heard. I really like "Viva la Vida," possibly because the line "I sweep the streets I used to own" really resonates with me for some reason. I mean, you know: there are times in your life when you felt like you were at the top of your game, and you end up looking back and wondering what the hell happened to you, and how you fell down to where you are now. I don't feel like anything was taken from me; I feel like I let something slip through my fingers, and sometimes I wonder if I can even remember what a good grip on the world feels like. Which is why I like the song, I guess, because the lyrics capture that feeling, but the music is actually really beautiful and almost hopeful-sounding. And the interesting thing is that, as the song goes on, it becomes about how hollow "being king" was in the first place. So it's both about nostalgia for something you had and being disillusioned with it at the same time. Huh.

I also really like "Violet Hill." My thoughts on that are less scintillating.

Linkspam (the more ebullient bits were compiled last night), because linkspam makes me feel better:

Mom in Web bullying case turns grief into activism.

What's Up With the Mysterious Denver UFO Video?; Denver Alien Video -- Revealed!

Radiohead to Prince: Hey, that's OUR song. I love it: "Well, tell him to unblock it!"

David Cook on arranging songs, fighting the 'smug' label, and baiting cougars; David Cook on Idol's heinous group numbers and a very cool tour collaboration; David Cook Is Everything That Is Wrong With the World, Says MTV. Wait, what?

This ambivalence has less to do with my feelings about Cook the person or Cook the performer as it does with my lack of feelings about either. This is probably because I have no idea what is going on in the majority of this country, though it could also be attributed to the fact that A) I am a music journalist living in New York, B) I never listen to rock radio, C) I am sort of an elitist jerk, or D) all of the above.

[...] He has probably never cared what a blog has to say (if he's ever read one), and he likely still has an AOL e-mail address. He is a Kansas City Royals fan.

He is a Rock-and-Roll Red State. He is Rolling Thunder across the Fruited Plains. He is SUVs and flag-waving and the American Dream. He is basically the living, breathing embodiment of the overwhelming majority of people in this country, whom I do not, cannot and — let's face it — will not understand. Not ever. He makes me realize just how detached I am with reality and how unimportant I am. And that makes me sort of hate myself. And this country. Sort of.

[...]

And there are underlying consequences here that I don't want to think about. Like, what does David Cook winning "American Idol" mean for Barack Obama's chances in November? Or for ever withdrawing from Iraq? Or ending our dependency on foreign oil? I worry about these things because David Cook makes me worry.